Coach Gary Kubiak praises defensive backs

The coaches can’t wait for Saturday’s preseason opener against Carolina so they can watch the defensive backs in action.

The competition in the secondary has been fierce. When the roster is reduced to 53, there are going to be some cuts in the secondary that could come back to haunt them.

“It’s as good of a group as I ever went against,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “As a coach watching practice every day, I tell our offensive guys that if you can hold your own day-in and day-out against our group, you’re not going to face many groups that are better. That’s how much I think of our guys on our backend.”

In 2011, the Texans finished 32nd in pass defense.

“It’s a great competition,” Kubiak said. “They’ve been very, very consistent in everything they’ve done.”

New cornerback Alan Ball played for defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in Dallas.

“He’s a veteran corner that knows Wade’s schemes, so that was easy for him to come in and compete,” Kubiak said. “He’s played some good football in this league, and he has been an excellent special teams player, so we’ll give him a chance to do that.”

The coaches also want to get a good look at cornerback Sherrick McManis.

“I like Sherrick, and I’ll tell you why,” Kubiak said. “I think Sherrick is an overachiever. When things get really, really hard, when everybody gets really, really tired, Sherrick seems to flourish. He finds a way to keep going. He’s a grinder, and those guys play in this league for a long time. He showed up today, and everyone was dragging a little bit on the backend, but Sherrick showed up and made some plays”